Comforting Words
by Viniloversus
Summary: She had never imagined that he would ever be the one to comfort her after sending her parents to Australia, but life, it seemed, had a twisted humor.


Hello Beautiful World! So another little thing that has been gathering virtual dust in my laptop and that I decided to finally publish. I know it is a flagrant AU, but i did it before I read the sixth book and it was definitely plausible back then.

I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me.

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It was the Christmas holidays at Hogwarts and all of the staff had already retired for the night. All of it, that is, except for Professor Snape. Severus was restless; being unable to sleep because of the nightmares that plagued him constantly and his war duties. Tired, and bad tempered he'd taken into patrolling the halls almost obsessively in search of misbehaving students to take his ire out in; taking points off and assigning detentions for when the term re-started in January. His new behaviour had gotten him some scowls in the Staff lounge as well as direct protests of those that considered his treatment of their little beloved beasts unfair. Not that he cared, he was far too tired and stressed and overworked to care that he'd hurt some brat's feeling by being too brass.

Right now, he was patrolling close to the Astronomy Tower, it was well known that students liked to go there to snog like animals after curfew as well as form little groups to compete about who could be the first one of them to drink themselves into stupor when no teachers were looking.

What he found, however, wasn't two adolescent snogging the living daylights out of each other, or a group of daring boys, -then again, those two might have been better- but just one student. One student that he knew very well (because who, after all, would have such a horrible nest of bushy hair but her, anyway). Hermione Granger was sitting on a small bench that she'd conjured for herself, wearing a bare thread jumper and old jeans, looking as if she was about to succumb to the tears he knew she was resisting to shed, she held her wand forlornly, watching as an horde of small birds flied around her. His first instinct was to turn around and forget that he'd ever seen the know-it-all cry, but before he could, she lifted her gaze; effectively spotting him.

"You don't have to worry, sir. I'm not going to jump off the tower. "She barely whispered.

"I didn't think you would, Miss Granger. "His voice was absurdly harsh in the silence. He took a couple of steps forward. Closer to her, he could see the misery and grief welling in her eyes and he inwardly winced, knowing exactly why that was. Hermione Granger's parents had their memories obliviated just a couple of weeks ago and it had been obvious to everyone that the girl was taking it badly. "It's not like you really could, as there are wards to prevent dunderheads from killing themselves up, more the pity. "Severus said with a sneer, hoping that perhaps angering the girl would make her less forlorn.

She snorted, the movement causing the tears that had been lingering in her eyes to finally fall. Severus cursed silently.

"Yes, well that would somewhat defeat the purpose of sending them… away. "This time, it was she who winced and more tears fell after the first ones. Severus remained silent; after all, what could you say to a girl that had to watch as someone erased her parents' memories of herself so they could be safe from the war that had haunted her since she was eleven?

Hermione, unaware of the inner's struggling of her teacher, kept speaking: "Dumbledore said that they would never remember me again. Today is Christmas, and I am all alone. "She whispered, somehow managing to sound more defeated and miserable than before.

Hermione had come up to the tower seeking the comfort and solitude that her room in the Gryffindor tower or the library failed to give her; she'd been doing just fine until a gaze towards the calendar had reminded her that tomorrow was Christmas and that she had no one to celebrate it with. Ronald's family plus Harry was fine, but it wasn't her family and being with them would just have reminded her of all she no longer had.

She'd wanted to be alone, but then she felt totally miserable now that she was. And right now, she hardly cared that she was rambling about her problems to the most unsympathetic teacher of Hogwarts, too deep into her pain to care that she was possibly giving him more ammunition to humiliate her when January came. All she knew was that she wanted, no, _needed_ to tell someone, someone that wouldn't pity her like Ron or blame himself like Harry. If that someone was the bloody bat of the dungeons, then fine. Unlike what she expected, the professor was not mocking or cruel, but instead he listened and he was being... somewhat decent.

Something about seeing her cry made the heart Severus believed to be death and frozen after Lily's passing squeeze painfully inside his chest; she looked fragile, breakable, not at all like the strong albeit very annoying girl he knew. The way she cried remembered him bitterly of his mother after Tobias was finished with her; she, like his mother, cried only when she was truly miserable, overcome with silent sobs and tears that she preferred to hide. Somehow, he found himself unable to summon his usual malice to deal with her.

He wasn't sure about how, but when he took care to notice, he was sitting beside her on the cold bench. The bench was small so they had little space to sit on and she was very close, so he felt her stiffen beside him, before she relaxed, somewhat leaning onto him.

"This was the first spell I showed them, sir. I was so proud of myself for being able to tweak it, and as soon as I was able, I showed them. Most normal parents, muggle parents, I mean would have been horrified, but they… they were fascinated, and so, so proud of me. I remember them chatting up about it for hours. And I just… "Her voice broke and she turned to him, regarding him with eyes filled with despair and he, for the first time in a while, really wished he knew how to comfort someone.

He scowled darkly when the inadmissible nature of his thoughts registered and instantly regretted it as the girl flinched away from him. He sighed inwardly; cursing that he was the one stuck having to console the Gryffindor Princess. Minerva was a far better option than he was, or Flitwick; even Hagrid would have been better to deal with the Gryffindor's Princess distress than a reformed Death Eater made spy!

Damn, he was just too tired for this.

"Here, dry your tears. "He said gruffly, giving a handkerchief. She took it, noticing that the handkerchief was very soft and that he wasn't really looking at her. She gave a small smile as he rather reminded her of Harry's poor attempts at comforting people. A rather more bitter and scary version of Harry, she amended as she remembered the way he had scowled at her out of nowhere. But it was still cute that the stern professor was going out of his way to make her feel better, blushing and hoping like hell that the man had not been trying to read her mind just then (Because she very much liked her limbs where they were, thank you) she dried her tears on the handkerchief and then folded it so she could hand it to him.

"You can keep it, Miss Granger. I have several. "

"Eh… uh… Thanks, Professor Snape. "She blushed. He turned to look at her, noticing that she looked very cold.

"There is no need. Miss Granger "With a wave of his wand, he cast a warming charm on her. She blushed. "Professor Dumbledore's word on the matter is not definitive, Miss Granger. "She gave a start and turned to look confused at him. He sneered; annoyed that he had to clarify himself. "The Headmaster, unlike what he likes to make everyone believe, does not know everything. There might be something I can do for your parents. If I'm still alive by the war's end, which is unlikely, I would like to examine your parents myself. "The words were said with his usual cold tone, his face set in the stony mask he was so used to wearing, which was why it was such a baffling experience to suddenly find himself with an armful of crying witch.

He went rigid and nearly flinched, not knowing very well what to do, corresponding bordered on the improper but pushing her away would most probably send her into a new state of depression, and he did not want that. Severus could count on the fingers of one hand how many times he'd been hugged before, and none of those had he been hugged by an ecstatic student. Students tended to avoid him like the plague, and the idea of physical contact with him was fairly intimidating, to not mention disgusting, so suddenly having a student, not any student but one that he'd tormented specially was much more awkward than he'd like to admit. A part of him was very aggravated that she'd taken such liberties with his person, but a small, very small, minuscule part of him was content that he'd managed to get her happy and that she would quit the crying and sobbing; she looked much better when she smiled, after all. And he could understand her being happy, as her parents were not abusive neglecting bastards like his…

But did she have to hug him? She was slobbering all over him!

And before he could even move to protest, she separated; her cheeks redder than what he had thought possible for the human face. As soon as she stopped hugging him she realised something; she was hugging her professor and not any professor, but Professor Snape, who was known to hate physical contact of any kind. She felt like an idiot when she saw him glaring at her, quite thunderously, even.

In defence of her foolhardy actions, knowing that such a brilliant man, moreover, the best Occlumens (And third best Legillimens) in all Britain was disposed to give her his help to recover her parents once the war was done was just… too much.

"I'm sorry; the emotion overtook me, sir. And I know that it still can go wrong, sir, it still could be nothing, but… your offer, it was far more than I had hours before. "She said softly, not daring to look at her professor. "It was the best Christmas gift anyone could have given me right now "At hearing her words, all traces of anger disappeared from his face. His gaze softened.

"Don't bother apologising, Miss Granger. I guess I should have expected such an uncontrolled reaction from Gryffindor such as you. "Snape drawled. Hermione scowled as she watched him standing up, but soon that left her face and was replaced with a smile; she was far too happy to allow any belittling comments to hinder her new found Christmas' cheer. He scowled. "I should take my leave. Good night, Miss Granger, whatever little there is left of it. "

"Good night, professor and… Merry Christmas. Thanks. "

He inclined his head in signal of recognition and parted.

.

The next morning, Severus entered his office to find that a package had been placed on his desk. Albus had must surely sent his yearly horrendous socks, and Minerva had given him his yearly bottle of Ogden's the Finest early, so his yearly gifts had already been accounted for. He scowled, wondering what kind of twit would dare to enter into his office. He checked the gift for hexes or dark magical traces, as well as any prank some "genius" might have put on the package.

When he found none of that, he opened it, finding a woollen black scarf and a small note that read:

 _I thought that we could get even, sir, as you already gave me something this year. I'm sorry that I couldn't find anything better to give you, especially after you gave me such a valuable gift, professor, but I was very short on time and, to my chagrin, I don't know much about your tastes (Perhaps something that could be remedied this year?) . Hermione G._

 _PDT: Sorry I sneaked into your office, but the Headmaster allowed it, I swear._

"Of all the cheeky, absurd things to do… "

Unbeknown to him, he was smiling.

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I hope you liked it, please review as I'd really like to know your opinion.


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